U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/682,608 discloses a child-resistant package that includes a container having at least one external thread segment adjacent to the container mouth and an external deflectable locking element spaced from the container mouth. The closure has a peripheral skirt with a first portion having at least one internal thread segment for threaded engagement with the container thread segment, and a second portion frangibly connected to the first portion with a locking element for engagement with the deflectable locking element on the container. With the second portion of the closure skirt connected to the first portion, the package is adapted for child-resistant operation requiring deflection of the locking element on the container to release the closure for threaded disengagement from the container. When the second portion of the closure skirt is removed by a user, the closure can be merely threaded onto and off of the container in a non-child-resistant mode of operation. A general objective of the present disclosure is to provide a child-resistant package, a closure and/or a method of making such a closure, which are adapted for snap-cap operation in a non-child-resistant mode.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A package having child-resistant and non-child-resistant modes of operation, in accordance with a first aspect of the present disclosure, includes a container having a neck finish with an open end, an external surface surrounding the open end and at least one external first engagement element spaced from the open end. A closure has a base portion, a skirt extending from the base portion, and at least one internal second engagement element on the skirt for engagement with the external first engagement element on the container neck finish in a child-resistant mode of operation. The skirt containing the second engagement element is severable from the base portion of the closure to convert the closure from a child-resistant mode of operation to a non-child-resistant mode of operation. A first annular element on the closure within the skirt is disposed for engagement with the external surface on the container neck finish to seal the package in the child-resistant mode of operation. A second annular element on the closure is disposed radially inwardly from the first annular element for engagement with the open mouth of the container neck finish in the non-child-resistant mode of operation, with the skirt removed from the base portion of the closure, to secure the closure to the container neck finish in the non-child-resistant mode of operation. The first and second annular elements preferably are of a flexible resilient plastic construction different from the plastic construction of the closure base portion and skirt, and preferably are molded in situ onto the inside surface of the closure base portion. A tamper band preferably, but not necessarily, is frangibly connected to the edge of the skirt and cooperates with a tamper bead on the container neck finish to sever the tamper band from the closure skirt when the closure is first removed from the container neck finish.